Sunday, March 18, 2012

The House recently passed the JOBS Act, which includes an exemption allowing meaningful crowdfunding for small businesses and other positive reform. And now the Senate is set to cast its first procedural vote on the House's bill, this Tuesday. We are on the precipice of a historical moment for entrepreneurs, and for America to set the precedent for innovation again. Crowdfunding is not only a win for the 99%. Allowing it is a veritable 1st Amendment for American business owners. We need your support, NOW!

The criticism of such a bill has proven to be be vacuous, and is collapsing under the weight of its own ignorance and FUD. Many hit pieces, including "peer reviewed papers", warn of us dark shadowy cretins who will fleece Grandma for everything she's worth. And yet in all of these hit pieces, I challenge you to find a single one which makes meaningful mention of the words 'portfolio' or 'diversification'. Do tell, how does one lose all of their money when they are diversified? And btw, it's telling that critics use the little old lady meme, which I find to be the ultimate combination of age and gender bigotry.

There's the fact that early stage investments look to be a safer bet than do penny stocks, given diversification. Apparently you don't need any extra government 'protection' with penny stocks, as long as brokers are collecting commissions. Or the fact that the gender profile of crowdfunding investors and entrepreneurs looks like America, instead of the dismal statistics for women in Venture Capital. Women are still stuck in the back of the entrepreneurial bus, while the guys drive.

Wasn't eBay supposed to be a "Wild West" of fraud. Nope, seller ratings. Then there's the ever popular argument that crowdfunding will allow investors to get bit by the group-think bug. Spoken by people who then check out Yelp to see if a restaurant is any good. Hello, you just used a crowdsourced diligence mechanism! This won't be developed for crowdfunding, because? Never mind that, you're told that your walls will be ripped out when you use AirBnB, and online dating is full of danger (now the second most common way for couples to meet). This meme that we are all too stupid to make our own decisions has reached such an epic proportion, that it has gone South Park!

Crowdfunding is about bringing back community business. It's about freedom of choice. It's about re-gaining freedom of our voice. It represents what we used to call "The American Way". This is your revolution. Don't just sit idly. Absolutely contact your Senator, and say "Vote YES to the #JOBSAct". As a Kauffman Foundation's recent study reports, "startups aren’t everything when it comes to job growth. They’re the only thing." If this is the only thing we have, then your actions are everything...